100th Post - Thank You Readers!

We here at the Law Blogger would like to thank the Oakland Press, and our readers for the opportunity to disseminate our posts on the developing legal issues of our day, as they occur. On average, this blogs receives 75 daily page views.  Sometimes, readers are motivated to comment.  The comments tendered often provide a fresh look at the subject from a completely different point of view.  They also provide insight into how we've treated a subject. We value your comments.  Please keep them coming.Interestingly, in our two-year history of 100-posts, the one about Cooley Law School's sponsorship of the former Oldsmobile Stadium received the most comment from readers.  Although posted back in February, we still receive...

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Posted in: attorney,Cooley Law School,Kevin O'Keefe,law blogs,lawyer,legal issues,Michigan Court of Appeals,Michigan Supreme Court,Oakland County Circuit Court,Oakland Press,SCOTUS

Michigan Supreme Court Affirms Father's Child Support Obligation Even When Parental Rights Terminated

There has been some buzz among family law practitioners this week concerning the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in the DHS vs Beck case. Earlier this year, we posted on the Michigan Court of Appeals decision that held a father, whose chronic drugging resulted in the complete neglect of his children and termination of his parental rights, nevertheless remained obligated to pay child support for his two children.  The published Court of Appeals decision was just affirmed by the Michigan Supreme Court. This case arose from the Oakland County Family Court; it was Judge Martha Anderson that initially terminated Mr. Beck's parental rights while also affirming his obligation to pay child support.  Both parents had been abusing drugs...

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Posted in: Child Custody Act,child neglect,child support,family law,Judge Martha Anderson,juvenile code,Michigan Court of Appeals,Michigan Supreme Court

Bloomfield Hills' Medical Marijuana Ordinance Challenged in Lawsuit

Bloomfield Hills passed an ordinance in October requiring card-carrying certified medical marijuana users to register with the Bloomfield Township Police Department. The ordinance also requires the submission of a form to the police disclosing the “patient’s” drivers license number and date of birth, whether the patient owns or rents their home, and identifying how many other patients share their home.In addition, the ordinance limits the number of medical marijuana patients that can live at one address and prohibits growing medical marijuana anywhere in Bloomfield Township. Violation of the ordinance is a 93-day misdemeanor carrying a $500 fine.Bloomfield Hills is among several municipalities that have passed ordinances that restrict...

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Posted in: appeal,attorney,criminal,criminal defense attorney,marihuana,marijuana,Michigan Medical Marihuana Act,Michigan Supreme Court,Neil Rockind,ordinance,Royal Oak,Tom Loeb

California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Grinds Along in the Ninth Circuit

This Law Blog has been tracking the same-sex marriage case out of California.  We covered Perry vs Schwarzenegger in an earlier post detailing the players and the issue framed in the constitutional law suit that originated in a federal court in San Fransisco.Since our last post on this topic, the trial court judge issued a lengthily opinion last August, ruling that California’s Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, enjoining further enforcement.  Proponents of the marriage ban appealed to the Ninth Circuit.The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the trial court ruling, however,  while the appeal is pending.  Recently, televised oral arguments were conducted on the case before a 3-judge appellate panel.  Federal...

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Posted in: constitutional law,Judge Vaughn Walker,Lyle Denniston,Perry v Schwarzenegger,same-sex marriage,SCOTUS

Felony Child Support Cases Get Review by Michigan Supreme Court

Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court granted leave on three cases challenging the constitutionality of the Felony Non-support Act; the statute criminalizing the failure to pay timely child support to the custodial parent.This blog has covered the felony child support issue relative to the People v Likine case from Oakland County Circuit Court.  That case, along with People v Harris (from the Muskegon Circuit Court) and People v Parks (Ingham County), were granted leave for further appeal.  A decision from the Supreme Court is expected sometime in 2011. In Harris, Justice Robert Young, Jr. dissented from the majority of his colleagues in granting leave on the grounds that the appellant pled guilty in the trial court, cutting...

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Posted in: attorney,family court,family law,felony child support,Justice Robert P. Young,Michigan Court of Appeals,Michigan Supreme Court,Selesa Likine

Nun Indicted in Gotham for Embezzling Nearly Million From Catholic College

Nunsense!  Earlier this week, Marie Thornton, a nun known around Westchester County, New York's Iona College as "Sister Susie" was indicted for embezzlement in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.  She was charged with stealing nearly a million dollars over a decade from the private Catholic college which she served as a vice president for financial affairs.   Thornton pled not guilty to the charges.  Apparently, the college found out about their CFO's sticky fingers some time ago, but declined to report the crime or press charges. The missing funds were only recently disclosed on the college's 2008 tax forms which indicated that an unnamed employee misappropriated $80,000 each year in small amounts over a ten-year period....

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Posted in: Brother Rice High School,Christian Brothers of Ireland,embezzlement,lawyer,Marie Thornton,U.S. District Court

Lake County to Absorb 2500 California Felons

In 1998, the Michigan Department of Corrections opened the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan; right smack in the middle of the Manistee National Forest in Lake County.  The facility, known as the “punk prison”, closed in 2005 and was subsequently sold to GEO Group, Inc., a Texas-based conglomerate.Lake County has suffered unemployment as high as 20% as a direct result of mothballing the youth facility.  The situation is about to change, however, due to California’s chronic prison overcrowding.This blog has been tracking the landmark prison overcrowding case recently argued before the SCOTUS.  In a proactive effort to alleviate the situation, California recently contracted with the GEO Group to house more...

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Posted in: Baldwin,California,GEO Group,inmate,Lake County,law enforcement,MDOC,Michigan Department of Corrections,overcrowding,prison,SCOTUS

Child's Aging Held to be Sufficient Change of Circumstance to Justify Parenting-Time Modification

Very recently, the Michigan Court of Appeals published their decision in the parenting time modification case of Shade v Wright.  That case, and its effect on our "family law" jurisprudence, is the subject of our fellow Oakland County law blogger, Cameron Goulding, Esq.Cameron produces the North Oakland Divorce Blog.  This post is his original content; thanks Cam.Altering child visitation time (technically parenting time modification) just became easier in Michigan. Many judges and friend of the court referees believed that in order for a person to obtain more parenting time with their child or to limit the parenting time of the other party, one had to provide proof equal to that which would be required to change custody. I have long...

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Posted in: Cameron Goulding,custody,divorce,lawyer,Michigan Court of Appeals,North Oakland Divorce Blog,parenting time,Wright v Shade

Bankrolling the Divorce Settlement

We've all heard about lenders that specialize in loaning to personal injury plaintiffs in advance of their settlement. These firms front the money to the plaintiff, at a significant discount from the amount expected to be realized in the ultimate settlement.This same principle is being applied to divorce judgments. Get your money now and your divorce later.Mind you, this is not for folks with middle-class marital estates. Rather, this brand new industry is developing on the left and now the right coasts for married couples that have estates north of 2 or 3 million.For example, Balance Point Divorce Funding of Beverly Hills, CA was started last year by an attorney, Stacey Napp, with funds she obtained from her own divorce.In New York City, it...

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Posted in: attorney,Balance Point Divorce Funding,Churchill Divorce Finance,divorce,Stacey Napp

Satelite Tracking Devices May Constitute a Fourth Amendment "Search"

At the Law Blogger, we often see the use of GPS tracking devices in the divorce context.  What happens when the police use such devices to gather evidence of crime?  Are your movements constitutionally protected? Two cases percolating their way to the SCOTUS (a petition for certiorari already filed in one) involve police use of high-technology tracking devices.  The High Court will be asked to decide: a) whether the prolonged monitoring of a suspect via GPS technology is a "search" under the meaning of the Fourth Amendment; and b) whether police entry onto private property to plant the device invalidates such a search.If the petitions are granted, these questions could be briefed, argued and decided in the 2011 term of the Court;...

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Posted in: attorney,Fourth Amendment,GPS,medical marijuana,SCOTUS,search and seizure,surveillance

Comic Book Explains Arrests and Lawyers to Teenage Children

In New York City, anyone arrested under the age of 16 is now provided an informational pamphlet (four pages) explaining the criminal process from the booking stage right through sentencing.Is it me, or do others find this one of the latest signs of the apocalypse?  This is a sad commentary.This comic book does not mention the presumption of innocence or the specific charges facing the youth (although it has the feel of a possession rap).  There is an assumption that the arrest was valid.  Defenses are not referenced. In the end, the judge finds the urban youth guilty.  Sad but realistic. [This link will download a PDF of the entire comic.]The concept of this instructional graphic pamphlet was hatched by the Youth Justice...

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Posted in: attorney,Center for Court Innovation,criminal defense attorney,Francis Lewis High School,Gotham,Khaair,New York City

SCOTUS Grills California's Hired Appellate Counsel in Landmark Prison Case

Justice Sonia SotomayorOk, we've seen this one coming down the tracks.  The ABA Journal is reporting that Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the managing partner of Sydney Austin's Washington, D.C. office, Carter Phillips, to "slow down from the rhetoric", as Phillips began his argument before the High Court on behalf of the State of California in the Schwarznegger -v- Plata  prison overcrowding case.Justice Sotomayor also had a series of hard questions for California's appellate attorney such as how his client could possibly explain recent prison deaths and why these prisons are choking with dazed, deranged inmates sitting in their own feces.  She wanted to know what California's plan will be. As you can imagine, the present...

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Posted in: Arnold Schwarzenegger,attorney,Attorney Carter Phillips,Chief Justice John Roberts,Justice Anthony Kennedy,Justice Samuel Alito,Justice Sonia Sotomayor,lawyer,prison,SCOTUS